.......

This question was posed by my neighbor, Minger.  It's a question that I've tried to answer in lesser terms in a earlier post.  So, what do you do on a blog?  I'm not sure.  It's where the day takes you or where the day has taken you.  It's what you remember to be true.  It's all those things.  That's what I wrote back in January when I first joined the Vox Neighborhood.  I feel that the same holds true today. 

Minger also asked the following, there are so many things in the world that can grab your attention in both positive and negative ways? What is your responsibility? Do you have a responsibility to the people that will view you? Do you think your voice is a fainting echo or a powerful boom in the various nooks and crannies of the Internet and the world at large?

In terms of responsibility, I try to make sure that the topics I discuss do not harm anyone in my current realm.  When writing about friends and family, I try to envision how they may interpret my writings.  Would they view my posts in humorous terms or would they view it as hurtful?  I've never viewed this as a place to vent venomous statements.  More importantly, it's not my nature. 

When I'm writing about a specific topic that is open for further research, I try to make sure that I've done my own fact checking.  Sometimes I write about cars and I like to make sure that my information is factual.  I've posted several pieces regarding the long forgotten documentary film, Streetwise.  I made sure that I had the right dates regarding it's release and the director involved.  And to further clarify my own recollections, I triangulated the events in my life based upon this information. 

Perhaps what I find more paramount about blog writing is that you never know who or when someone will stumble upon your writings.  I'm writing today on the the 5th of July, 2008.  This may not be viewed by someone until 2011.  What is my responsibility then?  How will they react?  Will my views change?  Today I may champion the most cholesterol loaded diet known to man, but tomorrow I may become a vegetarian.  What I think is most important is to be as honest as possible in that moment. 

Beyond that, I try to write and move on.  I'm not writing news articles (although I did take journalism in high school and college).  This is a fluid, free-form experience.  I didn't ponder how this post would turn out when I sat down to write it.  Rather, I took the points of the question and addressed them one by one.  

This is where my thoughts concluded, on the 5th of July, 2008.